Return of the Common Folk?

Thursday

Jun 12, 2014 at 12:30 PMJun 12, 2014 at 12:37 PM

A colleague was pointing out yesterday that mainline Democratic and Republican candidates are overwhelmingly lawyers, while Tea Party candidates overwhelmingly are not. I’ve been wondering how much of an impact this is having on election cycles, and how much of the Tea Party success has to do with actual politics and how much has to do with a populist revolt against the legal profession. Was Cantor a victim of immigration policy, or a deeper reaction that maybe lawyers shouldn’t also be law makers, and that the backlash against government comes from the fact that lay people simply can’t understand the laws and regulations that guide them and form their lives? When Rick wanted to point out a really interesting Democrat who might be an alternative to Hillary, he named Brian Schweitzer, who is a soil scientist. Remember that short lived period where people thought we needed doctors, not lawyers, in government? Maybe we are seeing a resurgence of that– a sense that Washington insiders are not just partisan, but incomprehensible to the little people.

A colleague was pointing out yesterday that mainline Democratic and Republican candidates are overwhelmingly lawyers, while Tea Party candidates overwhelmingly are not. I’ve been wondering how much of an impact this is having on election cycles, and how much of the Tea Party success has to do with actual politics and how much has to do with a populist revolt against the legal profession. Was Cantor a victim of immigration policy, or a deeper reaction that maybe lawyers shouldn’t also be law makers, and that the backlash against government comes from the fact that lay people simply can’t understand the laws and regulations that guide them and form their lives? When Rick wanted to point out a really interesting Democrat who might be an alternative to Hillary, he named Brian Schweitzer, who is a soil scientist. Remember that short lived period where people thought we needed doctors, not lawyers, in government? Maybe we are seeing a resurgence of that– a sense that Washington insiders are not just partisan, but incomprehensible to the little people.